Distinction arrived safely in Australia yesterday ahead of his challenge for the Emirates Melbourne Cup on November 2.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained gelding has been in good form this summer, landing Listed races on his two most recent starts.

He is expected to line up for the 12-furlong Carlton Draught Caulfield Cup as a warm-up for the big race over two miles at Flemington.

The five-year-old's journey took 40 hours and involved stopovers in Copenhagen, Dubai and Singapore, but Distinction settled in his box in the quarantine centre at Sandown racecourse in Melbourne.

"He has travelled very well and it was an uneventful journey which we are relieved and pleased about," said Harry Herbert, managing director of owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing.

"He was very relaxed and his weight loss is normal for a flight from Britain. He will go for the Caulfield Cup on October 16 as long as he recovers from the journey and is training well.

"We will be putting up an Australian jockey and are hopeful that Damien Oliver will ride."

* CONNECTIONS of Joe Bear are planning a tilt at next season's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but the colt will not be seen in racecourse action this year. The Philip Mitchell-trained four-year-old has not been out since finishing a close third to Stroll and subsequent Arlington Million hero Kicken Kris in a Grade Two event at Belmont Park 12 months ago.

But his Epsom handler and owner Chris Ransom are hatching an ambitious plan to land next season's Longchamp showpiece.

"The Arc is the ultimate goal for Joe Bear," said Ransom of the lightly-raced Peintre Celebre colt, whose penultimate start saw him finish runner-up in last season's Grade One Secretariat Stakes at Arlington Park.